Posted by James Jahnke

Detroit Free Press Sports Writer

Here’s a really interesting behind-the-scenes look at Da’Shawn Hand, rated by rivals.com as the No. 1 football recruit in the nation for 2014, from the Washington Post this week. Hand has narrowed his college choices to Michigan, Alabama and Florida and plans to make a decision in November.

The WaPo follows Hand through the hallways at his high school in Woodbridge, Va., onto the practice field, at a game and then at his official visit to Michigan for the Notre Dame game last weekend.

For recruitniks, the two biggest pieces of news in the piece are Hand saying that he has “an idea” of what school his going to pick and Rivals analyst Mike Farrell reiterating that he thinks the Wolverines are in the lead for Hand’s services.

“Da’Shawn is probably the most enjoyable No. 1 overall prospect I’ve dealt with in at least eight years,” Farrell says. “It’s very fluid, but he’s got such a solid head on his shoulders that I think he’s looking for more than just football. And I think Michigan has been, by far, the most impressive presentation when it comes to off-the-field academic stuff.”

Hand also talks in the video about having to turn down recent overtures from LSU coach Les Miles and he called the atmosphere at the U-M game “live” and said it was a “cool trip.”

But beyond that, it’s just a pretty good look at a few days in the life of a top football prospect. (And you can see Hand tossing fellow high school players around like dolls, if you’re into that sort of thing.)